Just An Average Fairy Tale
by gorgeousastrolabe
Summary: Princess Feferi is getting married to a guy she just met and feels no attraction to. Orphaner Dualscar is willing to save her. If they can sneak around the Condesce, of course. Rated T for occasional swearing, fighting, and eventual make outs. Characters may be a little OOC at first but don't worry.
The gazebo that bordered both the stretch of sand and the lively forest had one of the most beautiful views in all of Alternia. The gazebo offered a spectacular view of the warm crystalline waters, the hot, golden sand of the beach, and a glimpse of the dense trees that were teeming with creatures. It was one of Feferi's favorite places, since the smell of the sea and the faint chattering of the animals normally calmed her. But today the magnificent view would not soothe her temper.

She was angry, to say in the least. No, not angry. She was not angry with her mother. She was absolutely furious. Once again, Her Imperious Condescension had limited her own cares to herself, not bothering to take into account that maybe, _just_ maybe, marrying off her youngest daughter was not a good idea.

Feferi ran her hands through her thick, inky curls. She squeezed at the roots of the hairs she had collected between her fingers, and then let it cascade down her back. She focused on taking deep breaths, remembering her breathing exercises, but her nerves were boiling with hot anger. The young princess squeezed her eyes shut as she recollected the day's events with distaste.

It had started off well. Feferi had been woken up by her usual servant, Kree, and was then told to get dressed. However, there was a catch. Kree told Princess Feferi that she was to meet her mother for brunch.

Princess Feferi and Her Imperious Condescension did not get along. This was a known fact. Feferi had tried leaving before, but her mother always pulled her back, making sure to tighten the restrictions on her daughter's privileges even more. The last time Feferi had run away had been the most successful: it had been less than a sweep ago, and Feferi had managed to hide on an island with a few of her slaves. However, her mother quickly found her, and dragged Feferi back. To subdue Feferi, her mother ordered the slaves that Feferi had been with to be culled, cut Feferi off from her friends, and forbade Feferi to leave the castle grounds by herself.

Feferi had been tolerating all of this for the past few months, but today had been the last straw. When she went to see her mother, her mother informed her that she was to meet with a human prince for lunch and that she needed to wear something fancy. So the princess ran back to her room and changed into one of her loveliest gowns. But when the Condesce saw her, she snapped.

"W)( at the s)(ell are you wearing?" Her mother had asked with a sneer.

Feferi glanced down at herself. "A dress?"

The Condesce snorted. "Come )(ere, gull." Feferi obediently approached her mother, and turned around when the Condesce asked her to. She paused when she felt her mother undo the lace in the back that was keeping her dress closed, and then squeaked when her mother jerked the lace backwards, causing Feferi to stumble as the dress closed around her body like a vise.

"Muc)( better." She said after a few more tugs. Feferi could barely breathe, and the dress was cutting into her skin. The Condesce stood back, admiring her work. "Now you look like a proper gull."

The luncheon with the human prince had been awkward. Feferi didn't have to speak much at all, which she was grateful for, since she was sure that if she did speak, she would vomit. Still, it was a bit weird to watch her mother flirt with a human.

And then things began to take a turn for the worse.

Her mother had slipped her youngest daughter into the conversation, like she wasn't right beside her. Feferi was used to this, so she coolly ignored it. But she wasn't used to hearing her mother say, "Oh, s)(e will be a good bride. Maybe a little bit c)(ubby, but a good wife for you."

Feferi didn't know what a bride was, but she did know what a wife was. She had heard about it from Karkat, before her mother had taken away any means of electronic communication. A wife was the human female equivalent of a matesprit, which was something that the young princess had no interest in being.

The sudden knowledge that her mother intended for Feferi to be this stranger's matesprit had caused her to choke on the water she was drinking.

After making sure that the young princess was okay, the prince had given her a smile. She supposed it was an attractive or a charming smile, but it didn't make her stomach flop, or her heart race. To put it simply, she had no interest in this prince.

"But you will," her mother had told her on the way back to her castle. "You will marry )(im, Feferi."

"W)(y?" She had asked as she shifted, trying to find a comfortable sitting position in a dress that was threatening to break her ribs.

"Politics, sweetie." The Condesce gave her daughter a malicious smile. "Besides, I need a firmer grip on t)(ose undesirable, t)(oughtless blobs, and t)(is is the best way to do it."

Feferi did not share her mother's uncontrollable greed for territory, but she did understand her mother's motives. That didn't mean that she had to agree with them, though.

She reached up and rubbed the ring on her upper arm where the dress had cut into her flesh. The first thing she had done when she came home was sob. She didn't want to marry a human. She didn't want to be under her mother's thumb. She was eleven sweeps old, for cod sakes, so why did she have to listen to her mother?

She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the soft sound of footsteps on the gazebo floor until it was too late. An arm wrapped around her shoulders, and Feferi jumped back instinctively, flinching and raising her arms to protect herself before recognizing her attacker.

Dualscar's smirk melted into a look of concern as he studied the young princess. Feferi clutched at her chest, taking deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. "Jegus Orphaner, you scared me," she said breathlessly, feeling a little relieved that it was only him.

She took a step towards him as his eyes roamed over her. She was grateful that she changed out of the dress she was wearing earlier, since the dress she had worn to lunch had made her chest pop in a grotesque way, but this dress did not. "You alright there, Fef?" He asked, his thick accent sending trills down Feferi's spine.

There was a small place in Feferi's heart for Orphaner Dualscar. Cod, she had been crushing on him since she was a little wriggler. He would only show up a few times a sweep, and he almost rarely spoke to Feferi, but she had been hooked on him from the start. Her heart beat a little faster as her eyes roamed over him, glancing from his swept back hair to the stubble on his jawline to his thick, muscular frame. She felt a jolt in her chest when she realized that he wasn't wearing his traditional armor or coat, and he looked about twelve times hotter without it.

Her cheeks flushed with happiness at his nickname for her. She offered him a smile. "I'm well, Dualscar." It was one of the most boldfaced lies she had ever told, but he didn't question it.

Instead he smiled warmly at her, and just that simple action made her insides flutter. "That's good to hear. And before I forget..." He reached down, taking one of her slender hands with his own hairier, brawnier ones, and then gently guiding her hand up to his face so that he could press a soft kiss on her knuckles. Her breath caught in her throat, and she watched him as her insides quivered from the simple kiss.

Then he released her hand, and she reluctantly brought it back to her side as he gave her another smile. "Sorry about that. You're mother has been getting onto me about customs."

Oh cod. She wished that the kiss he just gave her was something more than customs, but she didn't say that aloud.

She smiled at him, ignoring the fact that her heart was doing flips inside of her chest. "Is that w)(y you're )(ere? To see the queen?"

He smiled again, although this time his smile looked troubled. "Yeah, you could say that." He sighed. "It's that time of the sweep again. The queen is waiting on me."

Feferi nodded, understanding. A long time ago, she asked her older sister Meenah why Dualscar didn't come over more often, and Meenah told her that Dualscar had been granted protection by Her Imperious Condescension as long as he explored lands in her name and gave her jewels and riches and wealth in return. That meant that once a sweep he would show up to give the queen what she wanted, and then would leave again.

"O)(," she said, crestfallen. "I s)(ould probably let you go t)(en."

Dualscar frowned. "Wwhat's wwrong, Fef?"

She sighed, deciding that she needed to vent to someone. "T)(e queen wants me to be t)(e )(uman equivalent of matesprits with t)(is )(uman prince so that s)(e can indirectly control Eart)(."

"But you don't wwant to marry this guy?" Dualscar asked, catching on.

Feferi nodded. Dualscar sighed before wrapping his arms around her middle and pulling her close, letting her tuck her head into the crook of his neck. She tried not to inhale deeply, but she loved the smell of him. She loved the fact that he smelled like soap and the sea and some other, pleasant smell that tickled her nose and that could only be described as Dualscar. She loved how safe she felt in his muscular arms, and she loved the fact that he seemed to envelop her entirely. As she hugged him back tightly, she wondered for the billionth time what it would be like to kiss him.

"I'm sorry, Feferi." Then he paused. "How old are you?" He asked as he gently pulled her out of his embrace.

"Eleven sweeps," she said as she took a step back, her skin tingling from where his hands had touched her , even though there was a couple layers of fabric between them.

"Wwhy haven't you run away then? You're legally an adult."

She sighed. "I've tried. But s)(e always pulls me back."

Orphaner Dualscar looked away, glancing at the dense trees to his left before looking back at the princess. "Wwill you still be here in a twwo hours?"

Feferi blinked, and then nodded. "I can try to be. W)(y?"

He gave her a grin that said that he had a plan. Maybe not a full proof plan, but he had a plan. "I'll come back here then, wwhen I'm done dealing wwith your mother. I havve an idea that you might like."

Then he did something that Feferi was not expecting: he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Suddenly Feferi was having trouble breathing, and the kiss was searing through her head, melting her brain and sending shivers down her spine. It wasn't a long kiss, but it was enough that when Dualscar grinned at her and left, she stood in the gazebo, blinking and staring at the space where he had once been, unable to quite register what just happened.

 **Bleh. I'm horrible at puns, so please excuse me if Feferi doesn't use any. Also, I headcanon that Dualscar has an Irish accent. Anyway, I have big hopes for this fanfiction, so we'll see how this goes.**

 **-Lilith**


End file.
